JOE RAFFIEE, an assistant professor of management and organization at the USC Marshall School of Business, has been awarded the ASCENDANT SCHOLAR AWARD from the Western Academy of Management.

“It really is an honor to be recognized for this award and to join an outstanding group of scholars, including some of my fantastic colleagues here at USC who are also past winners,” he said.

Raffiee studies issues related to human capital and was recently part of a team awarded a National Science Foundation grant to explore factors underlying mobility patterns and innovative productivity of knowledge workers. His collaborators are Marshall colleagues FLORENTA TEODORIDIS, associate professor of management and organization, and DANIEL FEHDER, assistant professor of management and organization.

“A big part of my upcoming research program is a series of projects, together with Florenta and Dan, which study the political orientation of scientists and its role in shaping the rate and direction of inventive activity,” said Raffiee. “While research has shown that political orientation influences individual decision-making, we know relatively little about how the political orientation of scientists may shape labor market and collaboration choices, two factors which reflect directly on both the rate and direction of innovation outcomes. We were awarded an NSF grant to construct a large-scale database which will allow us to explore these questions.”

“This is a wonderful achievement,” remarked PEER FISS, Jill and Frank Fertitta Chair in Business Administration, professor of management and organization and associate vice dean for research at the Marshall School. “The Ascendant Scholar award is one of the most visible awards for emerging stars in the Western region of the U.S. It considers not only research but also teaching and service to the professions, so you have to be a star all around to win it. If you look at past winners, it is essentially a who is who of some of the most prominent scholars in our field.”